Race Against Time
by Slaythevampire87
Summary: Someone has been kidnapping young women and murdering them in a so called "game". When Mai gets captured, of course the SPR team has to get her back! Along with the help of a couple unexpected allies, will Naru and the gang be able to win this race against time? (Hints at JohnXMasako and definite MonkXMai, don't like don't read. More cases to come)
1. The Murder Game Pt 1

**Me: Hello! This is my first Ghost Hunt fanfiction. I hope I did okay on it! I worked really freaking hard on it, so please don't say stuff like "This is so boring" or "You're writing is really awful." I mean, I LOVE getting helpful criticism, but please do it in a way that won't hurt my feelings. . That's all I ask!  
**

**Mai: Me doesn't own any of the Ghost Hunt characters! She only owns the plot line of this story. **

**Naru: *Calls from his office* Mai! Tea! **

**Mai: Geez! I never get a break, do I?! Not even in the A/N! **

**Me: *Laughing* Read and review please! **

_Killer's P.O.V and the thoughts of everyone. _

Regular P.O.V.

**_I'm sure you'll figure out what this one is supposed to be later on in the story. I'd tell you right now, but it gives stuff away. XD  
_**

* * *

_He shivered, more from excitement than cold. He had always enjoyed the thrill of the game, almost more than the killing itself. He loved watching the family and friends of his victims squirm as they tried to save the victims from their horrible deaths. Unfortunately, none of his opponents had won a game yet. That was a little disappointing.  
_

_At the moment he was sitting at a cafe, drinking tea and pretending to read the newspaper; seemingly just like every other person there when in reality he was looking for the girl he had chosen to be his next victim. __He'd chosen the perfect pawn for his game. He wanted a challenge this time, someone who would_ really try_ to fight back. Someone who seemed feisty. He'd done his research on her, found out where she worked, found the route she always took to get there. Yes, _she _would be the perfect next victim._

_Her short brown hair, her honey brown eyes that were lit up with the determination and happiness of youth. Oh, he could just envision the life fading slowly from her eyes as he killed her, terror replacing the happiness. She was loved by everyone she worked with and would be missed. Not to mention that her boss was quite the interesting character. He could hardly wait for the perfect opportunity to make his move. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation before getting up and paying his bill. He still had a few more things to do before the game board would be complete. _

* * *

Mai Taniyama sighed as she walked up the steps to Shibuya Psychic Research, SPR for short. She was late. Again. She rubbed her eyes a little, hoping that they weren't too swollen from crying. Her boyfriend had just broken up with her and the redness still hadn't completely left her eyes when she left for work.

Mai could just imagine what Naru would say if he found out she was late because of something as "unimportant" as a breakup. Mai sighed again at the thought of her boss. Oliver Davis, famous ghost hunter and ESP user, was more commonly known as Naru among those who worked at and with SPR. Mai smiled a little as she remembered when she had come up with the silly nick name for the narcissistic young man. It had been exactly five years ago today.

She'd still been in high school back then and he, along with his assistant (Lin Koujo), had been investigating paranormal activities at the old school house. After accidentally breaking a camera and causing Lin to get hurt, Mai became Naru's stand in assistant. Somehow she ended up getting a full time job with SPR. Funny how things worked sometimes.

She paused a moment at the door when she heard loud laughter inside. The others must have gotten there already. That was unexpected and a little unwanted since she didn't want them to ask about why she was late. She had met Houshou Takigawa (Monk), Ayako Matsuzaki, Masako Hara, and John Brown around the same time she'd met her boss. They had all become regulars at the SPR office, often helping Mai and Naru when they had a difficult case. With one more sigh, Mai opened the door and forced a bright smile onto her face.

"Good morning everyone! What a surprise to see you all here so early!" Mai exclaimed with false cheerfulness as she hung up her coat and walked to the kitchen, knowing that Naru would ask for tea. Sure enough, said young man called from the next room, demanding for his tea.

Monk stood up and followed Mai. He leaned against the counter and watched as she started to heat up the water to make tea.

"Are you okay, Mai?" He asked.

Mai turned and smiled sadly at him and said, "I'll be fine, Monk. Thanks for asking. "

Monk nodded slowly before asking, "Does it have something to do with that boyfriend of yours? If he hurt you, Mai, then I'm not gonna let him get away with it."

_Monk is so observant. He's also very kind. If only I could date someone like him. No! No Mai, don't think that way! You just broke up with your boyfriend! You can't start thinking about dating someone else yet! _Mai shook herself mentally.

"We broke up. He wasn't satisfied with what I was giving him in our relationship and I. . . I guess that I just didn't love him the way I thought I did," she replied.

". . . Is it because you're still not over Naru?"

Mai almost dropped the kettle in her surprise as she pulled it off the burner. Before Naru had gone back to England, she had confessed her feelings to him. He insisted that her feelings were for his twin brother Gene, not him. Naru had left her heartbroken and confused.

She whirled around to face Monk. "Why on earth would you think that?! Of course I'm over Naru! No. . . But I do think I have feelings for someone else. I just don't know who."

Monk smiled and ruffled Mai's hair playfully. "Okay. If you ever need to talk about anything, you can always talk to me. Is there anything I can help with right now? I can carry out the tea or something."

Mai smiled back, a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach as Monk touched her. She handed him the tray with the tea for the others before walking to Naru's personal office to give him his tea, feeling confused at the sensation she'd felt with Monk and deciding that she needed to have a talk with Ayako.

* * *

Monk sat back down on the couch, deep in thought. Now that Mai and her boyfriend were through, it was a good opportunity for him to tell her how he felt. But, then again, they had _just _broken up. The was no way she'd be ready for another relationship right off the bat. Besides, she saw him as nothing more than an older brother figure. Not to mention she already had someone she liked, even if she didn't know who it was yet. Monk frowned, sighing in annoyance.

Ayako noticed Monk's slight frown and rapped her knuckles lightly against his head. "You shouldn't think too hard there, Monk. You'll end up killing off your brain cells."

Monk brushed her hand away, staring at her indignantly. "I can think with out my brain dying, you old hag."

"Excuse me?! Who are you calling an old hag?!" Ayako grabbed his ear and pulled, causing Monk to grimace in pain.

" Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow! I said OW!" Monk yelled.

"Ha ha ha! Oh, you two!"

Both Monk and Ayako stopped when they heard laughter coming from Naru's doorway. Turning, they saw Mai leaning against the door frame to keep herself from falling over as she laughed. Though they hadn't planned it, Monk and Ayako gave each other a small thumbs up for making Mai feel better.

"Ayako, can I talk to you for a minute?" Mai asked once she had calmed down.

Ayako nodded, a slight expression of confusion on her face. She stood up and followed Mai back to the kitchen so they could talk in privacy.

"I think I like Monk," Mai whispered quietly in case anyone was listening.

Ayako's lips quirked up slightly in a smile. She couldn't say she was too surprised, especially since she was pretty sure Monk felt the same way.

"When did you discover these feelings?" Ayako asked.

Mai thought for a moment. "Well. . . I think I've had them for a while, but I didn't realize them 'til I was making tea for everyone. Monk had messed up my hair and I felt warm and fuzzy when he touched me."

Ayako clapped her hands together in delight. "Sounds like you're in love! Okay, we'll have to test him first before you confess. We don't want what happened with Naru to happen again."

* * *

Mai and Ayako went back to the area where everyone (with the exception of Naru and Lin of course) was sitting. John and Masako were talking about where they wanted to go on their Christmas trip together. They'd been dating for a year now and Christmas would be the day of their anniversary. Monk was still sitting on the couch, but this time he was asleep. Mai and Ayako looked at each other before giggling quietly and grabbing markers to write on his face.

Mai was in the middle of drawing a mustache when Monk woke up and grabbed her wrist. Mai stared at his hand on her wrist before looking up into his eyes. Monk was staring right back at her, an unreadable expression in his eyes. They both could feel something akin to electricity shooting through them as they touched. Mai sat there for a moment more before pulling her wrist away and quickly drawing the other part of the mustache, grinning at Monk's surprise before she stood up and skipped away. Only Ayako had noticed the moment that had passed between the two of them. She grinned behind her hand.

About and hour or so after "the moment", a woman came into SPR with a case.

"My name is Kazuki Tachibana. I think that my daughter is haunting my dreams," the woman stated as soon as she entered the room.

Everyone blinked in surprise at the sudden statement. Mai stood up, quickly taking out some paper to take notes on and a recording device in case she missed anything.

"Tachibana-san, could you please elaborate?" Mai asked after leading Kazuki to a chair and sitting across from her.

Kazuki took a deep breath and collected her thoughts before beginning her story.

"About five months ago, my daughter Mizuki disappeared. My husband is. . . was an important political figure and wasted no time in hiring the best detectives to find her. No one could. We received several phone calls from the one we believe had taken her, all of them going on and on about some "game" we were taking part in. The very last call we received stated only that we had lost. We never found Mizuki's body.

"My husband killed himself shortly after. I think it was about a month after everything had settled down that the dreams started. It's always the same. Mizuki is running, always looking over her shoulder as though someone were chasing her. I can see a man walking behind her, taunting her by how slow he was walking, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get away. It always ends with her being stabbed repeatedly and screaming out for me to find her."

Mai stood up and patted Kazuki's shoulder. "Tachibana-san, as much as I want to help, your dream doesn't give us enough proof to tell us that you really are being haunted."

Kazuki looked up at Mai. "But that's not all! She tells me who the next victim will be! She's with her killer all the time. She watches him as he chooses his next victim, watches as he plans the new rules of his game. I can't tell anyone, who would believe me?! But you! You people hear, you work with things like this!" Kazuki paused a moment and her eyes widened as she really _looked_ at Mai.

"You! You're the one he's after!"

Naru and Lin had walked into the room when they heard Kazuki's raised voice and upon hearing her last statement everyone froze. Mai stared at Kazuki in shock. Naru quickly recovered and took control of the situation.

"We'll take your case into consideration and let you know if we decide to take it later this week. Thank you for coming."

Kazuki stood up, nodding to everyone before walking out of SPR.

* * *

A few days later, Mai was walking to SPR, once again late for work. This time she had slept in to late. She had a very strange dream the night before, but unfortunately couldn't remember it. She soon gave up trying to remember what happened in the dream and focused instead on the new feelings she was having towards Monk. Mai couldn't deny that there had definitely been some sparks the past couple of days, but neither of them had made a move. Was he waiting for her to confess first? Or was she just imagining the sparks after all? Making herself believe something was there when it wasn't?

A strong winter wind blew, bringing her out of her thoughts and prompting Mai to wrap her coat tightly around her body. A rusty creaking sound made the girl jump slightly. She turned her head to the right, seeing only an empty playground. The wind had caused the swings on the swing-set to sway gently back and forth; producing the creaking noise she had heard. Mai gave a little laugh as she shook her head at herself. Honestly, all of this work with ghosts was causing her to jump at her own shadow, despite having worked with them for so long. She walked over to the swings and brushed her hand over the seat nostalgically before sitting down to swing.

* * *

Naru sat back in his chair with an annoyed sigh. Mai was late. Again. She probably got distracted by something, which wouldn't be entirely surprising since it happened all the time. But Naru still couldn't get that warning they had received from Kazuki out of his mind. He'd seen the sincerity in her eyes.

A knock on his office door caused him to glance up. Lin stood in the doorway with Kazuki standing behind him.

"Tachibana-san says she's had another dream." Lin stated quietly.

Naru stood up and gestured for Kazuki to sit down. "Please, tell me what happened in your dream."

Kazuki took a deep breath, sitting down slowly. "Taniyama-san is in danger. He's going after her today."

"Get a hold of the others. We might need help. I'll try to contact Mai."

Lin nodded and quickly walked out of the office. Naru dialed Mai's cell phone number, thinking "_Please pick up, Mai, please pick up!_"

* * *

Figuring it wouldn't matter if she were a few more minutes late, Mai took a seat on the swing and kicked her legs back and forth until she was high in the air. She laughed happily and after a few more kicks to get even higher, she jumped of the swing, flying in a high arc and landing on her feet in front of the merry-go-round. Straightening up with a sigh, Mai came face to face with a young girl. Mai gasped and leaped back, falling on her butt.

"Wah! Oh my, you startled me!" Mai exclaimed, standing up again and brushing the dirt of her pants.

The girl simply looked at Mai, her dark eyes expressionless. Mai smiled gently at her. "Are you lost?"

_**"You shouldn't be here."**_

Mai blinked in surprise. "Why not?"

_**"You need to leave before he comes,"**_ The girl stared at Mai, her gaze seemingly looking right into Mai's soul.

Mai started to ask what the girl meant but was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She answered it quickly, holding a finger up to say 'just a moment'.

" Sorry I'm late, Naru, I'll be at the office soon," She said into the phone.

"Mai, where are you?" Naru's voice sounded strange, almost worried.

Mai frowned a little, confused at Naru's tone of voice. "I'm at a playground not too far from the office. Why?"

"Mai, leave there now! We've just gotten some information and-"

"Excuse me, miss." A voice distracted Mai from hearing the rest of Naru's sentence. Mai turned to face whomever was speaking.

"Oh, hello. Can I help you with something?" Mai politely asked the man who had been standing behind her.

The man smiled at her, a little bit too friendly for Mai's liking. "I'm a little lost and I was wondering if you could give me directions."

Mai smiled back, feeling a little bit uneasy. The strange girl who had told her to leave moved closer to Mai and tugged on her sleeve.

_**"It's him. You need to run."**_

Mai froze, keeping the smile plastered on her face, noting that the man didn't appear to hear or even see the girl.

"Mai? Who are you talking to?" Naru asked.

"Ah, sorry Naru! I'm leaving right now, but how about we keep talking?" Mai said, trying to let him know she was in some sort of trouble with out having to actually say so in front of the man she had been warned away from.

The man's eyes narrowed and he lunged forward, snatching her cell phone from her hand and throwing it to the ground. Mai screamed as she turned and tried to run, but she was too late. The man grabbed her and covered her mouth and nose with a sickly sweet smelling cloth. Mai struggled briefly before everything went black.

* * *

"Mai! Mai, what is going on?" Naru shouted into the phone as he heard her scream. Lin ran back into the room, the office phone to his ear, Monk on the other end of the phone.

"Mai isn't able to come to the phone right now. She's a little bit... tied up at the moment," A deep, ice cold voice spoke into Naru's ear. Naru quickly grabbed a recorder and put his phone on speaker, motioning for Lin to do the same so that Monk could hear what was being said.

"Who are you and what do you want with Mai?" Naru asked calmly.

The voice laughed. "Right, like I'm going to tell you, the famous Dr. Oliver Davis, who I am. That would destroy the whole purpose of this game, now wouldn't it? Oh, but I haven't explained the rules of this game to you yet. Mai is the key piece to this game; she's the one who will be having the most... well, I'd say fun, but that wouldn't be the correct word. All you have to do is find her. If you can find where I am keeping her in four days, then she will still be alive. If not... well, I'm sure you know what happens if you don't find her within the time limit. Good luck, Dr. Davis. I've done my homework, now let's see if you can do yours. Let's see if you're really as great as people say," And with that, the dial tone was the only thing anyone could hear.

* * *

**Me:Oh my freaking gosh! So intense! At least, it was for me. And I'm over 3,000 words! XD Sweet! Anyways, let me know what you think! Please and thank you!  
**


	2. The Murder Game pt 2

**Me: Hey peeps! How ya doing? Did you enjoy the first chapter of Race Against Time?**

**Mai: No! You got me kidnapped! Why on earth would I enjoy that?! **

**Monk: Because you get to be rescued by five extremely handsome men and a famous celebrity. Oh, and an old hag.**

**Ayako: *Hits Monk* **

**Monk: Ow! **

**Me: Hey! This is the A/N! No violence! **

**Naru: Idiots. **

**Everyone above except Naru: WHO'S THE IDIOT?!**

**Naru: *sighs* Me doesn't own Ghost Hunt. She only owns this story's plot line. **

**Me: And guess what?! I GOT MY FIRST REVIEW! A special thank you to InSaNiTyIsNoRmAl. Everyone else, l****eave some reviews please! Also, there may be a little bit of swearing in this chapter. I apologize to those of you who don't like swearing! Just bleep out the word! **

_**Ghosts and dreams**_

_thoughts and killer P.O.V. (And the recap) _

Regular P.O.V.

Typed information 

* * *

_Recap: "Good luck, Dr. Davis. I've done my homework, now let's see if you can do yours. Let's see if you're really as great as people say," And with that, the dial tone was the only thing anyone could hear._

* * *

**Mai's eyes opened slowly, only to see nothing but blackness. She knew she was in a dream when she saw a familiar figure she never expected to see again.**

**"Gene!"**

**Said boy grinned as she launched herself at him, throwing her arms around him in a big hug. "Hey Mai! Miss me?"**

**"Of course, silly! But what are you doing here? I thought you moved on after Naru and Lin took your body back to England," Mai asked in confusion.**

**Gene pulled back from the hug, his grin turning to a serious frown. "I'll explain all that later." **

**The little girl Mai had seen at the park suddenly walked up to them. She looked at Mai.**

**"I told you to run." **

**"I know. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. What's your name?" Mai bent down so she was eye level with the girl.**

**The girl hesitated for a moment. "Ayumu." **

**"It's nice to meet you, Ayumu. Thank you for trying to warn me!" **

**Gene tapped Mai's shoulder. "Mai, you have to wake up. Ayumu and I will help you as best we can." **

**"Why? What's going on?" She started to ask, but Gene and Ayumu were already fading away as Mai woke up.**

* * *

Mai groaned as pain threatened to make her head burst right open. But the pain was quickly forgotten when she remembered the events prior to her regaining consciousness.

"Well, well. Looks like the Queen of Hearts has awakened."

Mai whipped her head to the right and met the malevolent, coal black eyes of her kidnapper. She suppressed a shudder when she felt the pure evil that seemed to roll off him in waves.

"Who are you?" She asked.

The man smiled. Mai would have thought his smile was attractive if it hadn't belied his wicked intent. "The last person you're ever going to see while you're alive. You may call me Shi."

Mai didn't bother to hide her shudder when she heard his name, for it meant "Death".

Suddenly the temperature dropped and a ghost appeared by his side; a woman. "Snow like" was the only way one could describe the woman's beauty, for she had a cold demeanor and she seemed to almost shimmer (though the shimmering could be attributed to the fact that she was a ghost).

The ghost draped herself across Shi's shoulders. "Dear husband, what have you brought for us to play with?"

Shi smiled at the ghost. "I have brought Mai Taniyama, Mara. She has very powerful psychic abilities. I'm sure that if your to feast on her soul, you would become even stronger."

"Naru won't let you kill me!" Mai shouted. _Monk won't either, I'm sure of it! _She flinched slightly when the two started laughing; it was a terrible sound, like that of breaking glass.

Mara floated over to Mai until she hovered right in front of her, her face inches away from Mai's. "Mai. . . It's nice to know that you have so much faith in those little friends of yours. But they won't win. Shi's pawns are too strong for your rag tag little team. Would you like to see my true form? Perhaps that will help you put things in perspective."

Something told Mai that she _reeeeeeeally _didn't want to see Mara's true form as a ghost. This instinct was proven correct when the ghostly flesh of the woman began to peel away and decay, her hair became stringy and wild, and her eyes started to glow a bright red. Mai was frozen in terror, unable to move or scream.

"Aren't I beautiful, Mai?" Mara's voice was a hoarse hiss. She held up a decayed hand and gently brushed it against Mai's cheek. "Isn't my skin soft?"

As Mai felt the chill of the ghostly touch, she descended into the pitch black of unconsciousness.

* * *

**Mai opened her eyes again. She face palmed when she realized she was once more in a dream. **

**"Seriously, why do I keep falling asleep? Although, technically, I didn't fall asleep, I fainted. But still! Gah!" Mai was interrupted from her mumbling by the realization that she was in the SPR office. It took her another minute to realize that Gene was no where to be seen, which meant that she was astral projecting. **

**Mai watched as Monk paced, his agitation obvious. She thought about how to get everyone's attention since she knew that no one would hear her if she spoke. Then as Monk and Naru fought, she got an idea. A beautifully wicked idea. She giggled as she set to work on her plan. **

* * *

Monk was pacing in the office of SPR, as he had been for the past three hours after bursting in with his phone still to his ear. The others had been contacted, and they were now watching as monk paced. Ayako was a little surprised he hadn't fallen over from dizziness yet.

"Where did that bastard take her?!" He shouted for the umpteenth time.

Naru glared at Monk. "Takigawa-san, I understand that you are worried about Mai. However, shouting will do nothing other than annoy everyone else in the room. "

Monk glared back at Naru. "Why aren't you doing anything? The guy openly challenged you to this "game" of his."

" I already called the police. They will handle the situation." Naru said as he turned back to his computer screen.

"But you said that the police could never find the other victims! Aren't you worried at all about her? She could be dead already for all we know!" Monk ran a hand through his hair and slumped onto the couch, scowling at the wall.

Naru said nothing. Of course he was worried, Mai was his employee after all. But he would never admit just how worried he really was.

John patted Monk's shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry, Mate, I'm sure that she'll be just fine."

"John's right, old man. Mai will be back in no time!" Ayako said, trying to get a rise out of him. Monk simply nodded.

No one was prepared for what happened next. A magic marker seemed to fly right at Naru and drew something on his face before the stoic teen could react. Everyone started laughing as he turned; on his face was a mustache and glasses along with the words 'Idiot Scientist' on his forehead.

Yes, this was Mai's "wicked" idea. While it was effective, she would most definitely pay for it later.

"Mai!" Naru shouted, losing his cool for a moment when he saw what she had done to his face.

Monk was the first to recover. His expression grew grim. "Mai, can you give us any information about the guy who took you?

Mai quickly typed on Naru's computer.

His name is Shi. The ghost of his wife, Mara, has been helping him. Shi said something about Mara eating the souls of powerful psychics.

"Do you know where he's keeping you?" Naru asked as he wrote down information in the little black note book he kept with him at all times. Mai found it hard to take him serious with all the doodles on his face, causing the chair to shake with her laughter.

Naru glared at the chair, since he couldn't actually see Mai. " This is no time to be laughing, idiot. We're trying to get you back."

This immediately caused Mai to sober and she typed one single word.

No.

She started to fade, warning her that she didn't have much longer to stay in her astral state. Mai quickly typed another two words before waking up.

Be careful.

* * *

**Me: I know that this chapter is a bit shorter than the last one, but I felt that the whole "Be careful" part was a good place to stop since it's kinda dramatic, ya know? Plus, I still have to figure out where Mai is being held and how SPR is going to find out where she's at, blah blah blah. Well, not blah, but etc. Oh, you know what I mean. ****Anyways, I'm hoping to get the next chapter up before Christmas so that during Christmas break I can put up a christmas special! Woot woot! Excitement!**

**Masako: Since listening to Me ramble on and on might get boring for you readers, I will be giving the next announcement. Me is Making a poll for readers to choose where Mai is being held. Here are the choices you will have:**

**A) A cabin in the woods**

**B) A run down mansion where Shi and Mara lived when she was alive.**

**C) Someplace of your choice. **

**Mai: If you choose C, please be sure to PM the authoress so that she can take it into consideration. If more than one person uses the same suggestion, then Me will use it. **

**Me: Vote! And make choice C reeeeeeeeally creepy! XD It's okay if you don't though. **


End file.
